The Week In Tech: 5 Must-Know Things

Samsung officially jumped in the smartwatch market this week with the
unveiling of their new Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The launch was one of
many big product announcements in the tech world. Here's what you need
to know about the week in Tech:

The
smartwatch has a 1.63-inch screen, a camera, a Siri-like voice
assistant called S Voice, 25 hours of battery life and 4 GB of storage
space.

It also supports several apps, including Path, Pocket,
Snapchat and others. The watch comes in six colors and is compatible
with Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone, Galaxy Note 2 and Note 3, and the
Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.

Samsung's smartwatch will be released in October, so make sure you check back with Tech for a full review.

It's
no secret that Apple is going to announce a new iPhone on Tuesday,
Sept. 10. But USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham got an early look at another
Apple upgrade coming soon: their newest operating system, iOS 7. New
iPhones will come with iOS 7 and pre-existing users will be able to
switch to the new system in late September.

Here's the new iOS features that you need to know about:

--App updates: The operating system will automatically update apps for users - you won't have to manually update your apps anymore.

--Camera app update: The Camera app will have photo filters and a new option that lets users shoot photos in a square format.

--Control Center:
The eight most commonly used apps will reside on your phone's Control
Center screen, accessed by a quick swipe. The apps include Flashlight,
Camera, Clock, Calculator and Wi-Fi.

Yahoo
finally debuted its new logo on Wednesday after months of hype, and
it's a little bit quirky. The new purple Yahoo logo keeps the
exclamation point, but it occasionally darts and dances when users visit
the Yahoo homepage.

In a Tumblr post titled "Geeking Out on the
Logo," CEO Marissa Mayer said she played a big part in the logo redesign
and she wanted a look that would be "whimsical, yet sophisticated.
Modern and fresh, with a nod to our history. Having a human touch,
personal. Proud."

While you were having one last barbecue on Labor Day, the tech world was abuzz with surprising deals between big tech companies.

Here's a recap of what happened:

--CBS/Time Warner Cable:
The two companies finally settled a month-long battle that shut off CBS
for more than 3 million subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and six
other major cities.

--Verizon/Vodafone: British company
Vodafone announced it will sell its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to
Verizon Communications. This means that Verizon is now 100% American and
wholly owns its wireless unit.

--Microsoft/Nokia:
Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia's mobile-phone division for $7.2 billion, a
move that could potentially boost both struggling companies.

Most
of the talk in the tech world about smartphones centers on Apple and
Samsung, but Microsoft's Nokia purchase earlier this week could finally
move the company into serious competition in the smartphone market.

Ryan
Reith, IDC analyst, says Nokia has "clearly been the driving force
behind the Windows Phone platform, and we expect that to continue."

Nokia
is Microsoft's best smartphone partner - the company's phones account
for 81% of all Windows Phone shipments this year. So if Microsoft wants
to gain traction in the smartphone market and make a hot new phone,
Nokia is its best bet.